Lazeez Asian Cuisine Loki (Squash)

Note to self: I remember the first time I tried loki…it was unlike anything I ever tasted and even though it’s completely vegan you won’t even miss the meat. It’s one of the few recipes where, as much as I hate leftovers, I pray it’s still in the fridge the next day or even the day after that just so I could eat it again. Yes! It’s THAT good! After Chukandar (beets) this has to be one of my favorite vegetable recipes. Loki is also known as bottle gourd or opa squash and can be found in any Indian/Pakistani grocery store or Chinese Market. I’ve never been to a Chinese market but it’s on my to do list…but you can find any Indian/Pakistani store or halal restaurants by going to zabihah.com, click the near me button on the top left corner, and then there will be 4 tabs and you click the tab that says market and a list of markets near you will pop up.

Loki (Bottle gourd, opa squash)

I know it might be difficult to find so if in any case you’re not able to come across it you can substitute it for zucchini and while I’ve never attempted it, I feel like it might work well.

Ingredients:

¼ of an onion sliced

1 cup diced tomatoes

1 medium-large sized loki

1 packet of Lazeez Asian Cuisine Loki spice mix

¼ cup of water + 2 tbsp of water

2 tbsp of oil

Directions:

Put onions in a pot with 2 tbsp of oil on low/medium heat.

While onions brown and caramelize, peel the loki (squash) like how you would do to a potato and then slice into ¼ inch thick rounds.

When onions are browned (, add 1 cup of diced tomatoes and turn up the heat to medium.

Smush the tomatoes with the back of your spoon and then add loki to the pot.

Add ¼ cup of water + 2 tbsp of water into the pot and mix well.

Lower heat to very low and cover pot. Let it simmer for about an hour or until loki is tender. (Mixing very carefully every 10 minutes to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom…be careful when mixing so as the loki doesn’t break apart)